Two Flashes From Now
by abbiethehufflepuff
Summary: (AU) As Barry is helping Nora get back to her time, he ends up running too far and meets another descendant of his.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So, this is something new for me! Hope you enjoy!**

 _Central City, really far into the future._

Hadley slid to a stop on the sidewalk to catch her breath. She re-did her ponytail before continuing. She wasn't chasing anyone-it was the middle of the night, which is when she always did her training. Hadley had insomnia, so she spent the nights she couldn't sleep trying to get faster.

As Hadley ran up and down the streets of Central City, she'd help a few stumbling drunks find their way home safely, and they almost always threw up on her in the process. She timed herself by seeing if she could get the person home before they did.

Hadley's watch buzzed on her wrist and she stopped to read a text from her friend Kelsey.

 _Where are you? We're going to the club._

Hadley looked at the time. It wasn't _that_ late, she supposed, only eleven, but she knew she had to try and get at least some sleep that night. And, on top of that, she didn't think her parents would be crazy about her going to a club at that time.

 _No, I'm good_ , Hadley replied. _I gotta try to sleep._

 _But you're still up_. Hadley could hear Kelsey saying that out loud and rolled her eyes. None of Hadley's friends knew she was a speedster. It was too dangerous to tell anyone, for two reasons. One, anyone who targeted Hadley could go after them. Two, people were growing more and more meta-phobic as time went on.

Hadley didn't think her friends hated metas, but she knew some of their parents did. No matter who it was, no matter what they did, people would find a way to turn it into something evil. Hadley would always get defensive when she would hear someone say something bad about the Flash, and she always defended him. Her parents warned her not to, telling her that it was an unnecessary risk. In fact, even Barry would tell her not to be so obvious about it. People knew not to challenge her on that topic, though.

 _Come on_ , Kelsey messaged back. _Just for tonight?_

Hadley sighed. _Fine, I'll meet you there. Give me ten minutes._

Kelsey replied with fifteen smiley faces and hearts. Hadley rolled her eyes again and ran back to her house. She stopped in her bedroom and looked through her closet for something comfortable, but that also looked like she tried to pull herself together for this.

Hadley settled on high-waisted dark jeans and a black peplum top, her favorite, and black boots. She brushed out her hair and put it into a higher, tighter ponytail than before. Hopefully it wouldn't look as wind-swept as it usually did when she ran. After spraying a little on her hair, Hadley set the hairspray bottle down and left the house to head downtown.

She got to the club a few minutes before her friends did, unsurprisingly. When she saw them coming, Hadley ran back a few blocks so that she could meet them as they walked toward the door.

"Hey, guys", she said.

The group that Kelsey brought consisted of herself and their friends Jack, Calum, and Darcy.

Darcy and Calum were twins, and they were both home from college for the upcoming long weekend. They were a year older than the rest of the group. When Darcy saw Hadley, she ran to her and threw her arms around her neck.

"I missed you so much!", Darcy exclaimed in her high-pitched-super-excited voice. "I can't wait to tell you everything!"

Hadley laughed. "I missed you guys, too. Did you get that grant?"

Darcy was a chemistry major, and she had applied for a grant that the school offered to a small number of students so that she could do an experiment on metahuman genetics. She had always been curious about how powers were passed on from first-generation metas to their children. Hadley was, too, but it was more personal for her.

"They haven't decided yet", Darcy shrugged. Hadley could see that her friend was masking a semester's worth of anxiety. "But I am a finalist!", Darcy added, trying to be optimistic.

"Awesome!"

The group of friends entered the club and Hadley winced, as she always did, at the thumping bass of the large speakers. Every time she came to any place like that, it took her a minute to adjust to the noise.

The bartender yelled something to them that Hadley couldn't hear, but he was pointing to a bottle of some sort of alcohol, and she shook her head. Kesley, however, nodded, and walked over. The drinking age had been lowered a few decades earlier from twenty-one to eighteen, and Kelsey's eighteenth birthday had been two weeks earlier.

Calum elbowed Hadley and said in her ear, "Not her first time, huh?"

"Definitely not", Hadley snorted.

Kesley finished her drink and rejoined the group. As they made their way onto the dance floor, Jack looked over his shoulder at Kelsey. He had a look on his face that Hadley couldn't read. Kelsey came back before she could say anything.

As Hadley's ears adjusted to the noise, she was able to make out the song that was thumping through the speakers that hung throughout the entire building. It was a song that she knew she had heard before, some mid-2010s pop, but couldn't place the name of. It was Thursday-throwback night.

The group danced and sang for over an hour until Hadley's watch buzzed with the reminder that she needed to be home by one AM. It was twelve forty-five.

"I have to go", Hadley screamed, her voice almost gone. Darcy was the only one who heard her, because the rest of them were too busy laughing and being drunk. Hadley had a feeling that she'd be running back to take Kelsey and Calum home at some point that night.

Hadley waved obviously to Darcy so that the others would see her. Kelsey, absolutely wasted, looked sad.

"Nooo, Hadley", she whined. "You promised me you'd stay."

"No, I told you that I'd _come_. Nothing about staying later than this."

Kelsey put her arm around her best friend and pulled Hadley closer to herself, " _Please_."

Hadley pushed her away and quickly left before anyone else could say or do anything.

As she was seeing if the coast was clear to run, Hadley heard a news story from a nearby monitor anchored on a lamppost. The tired newscaster read the headlines in a bored tone, until he lit up.

"And in exciting news tonight, a new _speedster_ has been spotted in the city. Now, I know what you're thinking-this was not the familiar blue streak that we all know and love, Impulse. No, this was a _red_ streak, similar to the Flash himself. Could he have come out of retirement? Is this a new hero? We will have more on this fascinating story as more information becomes available. Now, a word from our sponsors."

Hadley stood frozen on the street, staring up at the advertisement playing on the monitor. It couldn't be the Flash, could it? Barry definitely would have told her if he was going out on the streets again. Besides, she and Wally had been doing a good job of keeping the streets safe for the past few years. Why would he come out of retirement _now_?

Hadley considered calling him, but it was late, so she decided to wait until the next day to talk to him.

Hadley looked at her watch. 12:54. She would just barely make it.

She tightened her ponytail out of habit and took a deep breath. Right as she was about to speed off, she heard someone walking behind her. Without turning around, Hadley took off.

The stranger was right behind her.

 _Central City, 2018_

Barry was running as fast as he could, and so was Nora. She needed his help to get back to her time, and she told him that she knew how fast they both needed to go to send her back.

Nora sped up, signaling to Barry that they were close. He focused on running faster, faster, _faster_ , until Nora looked back at him and nodded. Barry propelled himself forward, pushing her into the future. When she disappeared in front of him, he tried to slow down, but he couldn't. Barry fell through a portal somewhere and landed on his hands and knees in an alleyway.

 _Great,_ he thought, pulling himself up and brushing off his suit. The last thing the team needed was for _him_ to get stuck in the future. Barry wondered if Nora was nearby, maybe she could help him in return.

It was dark, so Barry wasn't worried about being spotted by anyone. As he looked around, he marveled at how different and futuristic Central City looked. He stopped to watch the news report on a monitor attached to a lamppost.

"It is eleven o'clock on July 14, 20-"

Barry's eyes widened. He wasn't in Nora's time. He was easily twenty, maybe even thirty, years past that.

Barry ran to S.T.A.R. Labs to see if he could find anything that could help him get home. He was shocked to see that his team's headquarters had been condemned-for real this time, it seemed. Boards covered the windows, the entrances were closed off, and almost the entire building was covered in caution tape. What had happened there? Did someone find out about what went on at the lab? _It wasn't illegal_ , Barry thought. _Well, not totally._

Barry continued to run around the city, checking every familiar place for someone he knew. The lights in Joe's house were off, and Barry realized with a pang of sadness that Joe and Cecile had probably passed away by then. He wondered how their daughter was, what she was doing. She probably had kids of her own.

Barry shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. They made him feel old.

Barry returned to the alley that he had landed in and pulled out his now horribly outdated cell phone. Amazingly, the internet still worked on it. He searched for "The Flash", and three pictures appeared. Himself, Wally, and a young woman in a blue suit. Barry smirked at the idea of Wally taking over his role in the city. He definitely wasn't going to tell the younger speedster about this.

He was curious about the girl, though. She was probably another descendant of his, maybe Nora's daughter. Nora wasn't listed on the page.

All of the speedster's birthdays were listed as well. Barry was still alive, in his mid-seventies. Barry supposed he could go and find himself, ask for help getting home.

Barry took a deep breath, ready to take off again, when he heard someone yell,

"Flash? Flash! Where have you been? We've missed you!"

It was an older man, and Barry swore he knew who it was, but couldn't place him. He waved awkwardly and ran off.

He first went to the loft, even though he was sure that he and Iris had moved out long before then, then ran through different neighborhoods that he and his wife had talked about moving to. Barry had no way to tell which house was his without breaking in and looking around, which he decided against.

He ran around aimlessly for a couple of hours before returning yet again to the alley. As he ran, he saw a young woman watching a monitor on the lamppost. The news anchor was showing a picture of a red streak.

 _Oh, no_.

The girl looked around before she took off, her silhouette replaced with a dark blue streak of lightning. Barry followed the trail of light. This was the girl in the blue suit.

This was the speedster who would replace himself and Wally. The next Flash.

The girl stopped a few blocks down. She knew he was following her. She slowly turned around to face him. She stared at him for a moment before walking toward him.

"What are you doing out here? And why are you wearing that suit?"

"Listen, I need your help", Barry said. "And what's wrong with this suit?"

"That suit is, like, I don't even know, forty years old? Which is really beside the point, considering that you retired ten years ago."

Barry took his mask off. The girl took a step back.

"I need your help getting back to my time."


	2. Chapter 2

"Wh-what are you-?", Hadley stuttered, taking small steps backwards. "How? I mean, I know how, but...Why? I don't remember-you've never mentioned traveling here, when you're so young."

Barry held back a small laugh. She was definitely related to him.

"Just listen to me for a minute, okay?", Barry asked gently. Hadley nodded slowly, still eyeing him cautiously. "My name is Barry Allen-you already know that-what is your name?"

"H-Hadley. Hadley Allen."

"Okay, Hadley. I really need your help. Is there somewhere private we can go?"

Hadley bit her lip. "There's a twenty-four hour bar down the street. Nobody's ever in there at this time."

Barry raised his eyebrows.

"My best friend just turned eighteen", Hadley shrugged.

Barry looked confused now.

"Oh! The drinking age is still twenty-one in your time? Yeah, It got lowered about fifteen years ago."

The pair of speedsters began walking down the street to the bar.

"How old are you?", Barry asked.

"Seventeen. Eighteen in three months. Kelsey, my best friend, has been dragging me to different places for two weeks, just to make sure that she gets home safe."

Barry nodded and was about to say something else when Hadley's watch buzzed. "Sorry, give me a second. Hey, Kels. Is everyone else leaving? Okay-pu-put Darcy on, Kels. Hey. Uh, yeah I just got home."

Hadley's eyes darted around, making Barry snort.

"Can you take her? I really don't want to leave again. I'm tired, dude. Okay, cool. Thanks. Sure, see you then. Bye."

"Speaking of your best friend?", Barry asked. Hadley sighed and nodded.

"Yep. A couple of our other friends are in town, so, luckily, they get to drag Kelsey and our friend Jack home. And explain why it looks like someone threw up on their clothes to their parents."

"That happens a lot?"

Hadley shook her head. "Too often. Sometimes I'll be running around at night-insomnia-and I'll take some drunk people home. Always fun trying to get vomit off of a supersuit."

"Did Cisco make your suit?", Barry asked as they approached the small bar/restaurant/diner. He was starting to feel comfortable with Hadley. He liked her.

"Yep. I didn't fit into Iris' suit from when she had speed for, what, twenty minutes? Also, as you saw, my lightning isn't purple. So, yeah. Custom made. I am _not_ about to tell him that I let people throw up on his _masterpiece_. Yes, he calls it that."

Barry laughed. "I'm pretty sure he still calls my suit 'our suit'."

The two of them sat down at a table in the dimly lit dining area, empty except for the bored bartender with their back turned to the door, who was most likely asleep.

"Okay. I was helping Nora-you know Nora, right?"

Hadley nodded again, this time understandably. "Yeah, she's my mom. Should I have said that? Whatever. Yes, I know about how she went back in time, met you all, needed your help, all of that."

"Well, while I was helping her get back to _her_ time, I ran too far and ended up here."

Hadley nodded. "Okay...You can't just run back?"

"I don't think I can get enough speed up to get all the way back to 2018."

Hadley nodded again, thinking. Her watch buzzed again. "Ugh. Sorry."

Barry shrugged, eyeing the device on her wrist.

"Hey. Yes, I know what time it is, I'm sorry. I'm….going to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's tonight." She winked at Barry.

Barry didn't like the way that sounded.

"Yes, you can call them! They're sleeping now, though. I was taking Kelsey home-yeah, she was wasted again. I volunteered. And, since I was nearby, I decided to stay here. Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Love you too. Bye."

"Was that…?", Barry pointed to her watch.

"No, it was my dad. And no, I'm not going to tell you who he is. Anyway, I don't know if I can run that fast, either. I've only been doing this for a few years for a few years. I'm really sorry."

They were both silent for a minute, until Hadley sprang out of her chair.

"I have an idea. Follow me."

She ran out of the bar, Barry trailing behind her and quickly catching up. She led him to a medium-sized house with only one light on.

"Welcome home", Hadley said, knocking on the door.

"Wait, this is my house?", Barry asked. "Should we be doing this?"

"How many times have you talked to future-you?"

"Once."

Hadley paused. "Well, now it's twice."

The door opened, revealing an older-but still beautiful-Iris West-Allen. She didn't see Barry at first, only Hadley.

"Hadley", she said, surprised. "What are you doing here so late?" Iris opened her arms and Hadley accepted her hug. Iris looked over her granddaughter's shoulder and saw a much younger version of her husband standing there.

"Hadley."

"Yeah?"

"What's going on?"

Hadley pulled away from her and turned to Barry. "He can explain. Also, my dad might call tomorrow."

Iris nodded and motioned for them to come in. "Got it. Hadley, go upstairs and get my husband."

Hadley ran up the stairs, leaving Barry alone with the future version of his wife.

"Sit down", she nodded to the chairs around them. Barry did. Iris sat across from him. "So. What year is it?"

"What?"

"What year did you come from?"

"Oh, 2018."

Iris nodded, thinking. "So, Nora just left?"

"Right, and that's how I ended up here", Barry explained. "I was helping her get back-"

"Alright, Hadley. I believe you", a voice said from the stairs. Barry looked up.

Staring back at him was himself.

Forty years older.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hadley told me everything", Older-Barry said before Young-Barry could start explaining again. "And, if you were anyone else, I'd be very concerned about you following my granddaughter around. But, you know, I guess she's yours, too. This is weird."

Young-Barry nodded. "Yeah. So, can you help me get back?"

Older-Barry opened his mouth, then closed it. "I don't know. As I've gotten older-and you have a long time before this happens-my connection to the speed force is weakening. I haven't really had reason to use my speed lately, either. With Hadley and Wally around, you know."

"Can we ask Wally to help?", Young-Barry asked hopefully.

"We don't know where he is", Iris told him. "He and his wife have been helping the Legends recently."

Young-Barry ran his hands over his face.

"Hadley can do it", Older-Barry said confidently.

"What?", Hadley exclaimed with a small scoff. "No, I can't."

"You've been training more lately. If you build up enough speed, combined with his, you'll be able to."

Hadley nervously agreed. "So...Now?"

"No", Older-Barry said. "You need to get some sleep first." He looked at his younger self. "If you don't mind spending a night here, that is."

Young-Barry decided that he could probably use some rest, too, so he agreed to stay there that night.

He ended up sleeping on their couch, listening to the twenty-four-hour news on low volume. Barry searched for the futuristic remote control and turned it up when he heard something about a series of murders-metahumans being the victims.

Hadley had come downstairs to get something to drink, and she saw him watching the screen in horror.

"Ugh, again", she sighed.

" _Again_? How often does this happen?"

"More and more lately", Hadley said. "Years ago-I'm not sure exactly when-metaphobia starting getting worse. People are so afraid that we're all out to hurt them."

"Does anyone know that you're a meta?"

"Besides our family? No. None of my friends, and especially not their parents. Ironically, Kelsey's parents are two of the most metaphobic people you'll ever meet."

"Wow."

"Yeah", Hadley yawned. "Sorry to bum you out, but I gotta go back to bed. I'm gonna try to train a little more before we try to get you back home."

"I can help you, if you want", Barry offered.

"That'd be great", Hadley smiled. She said good night again through another large yawn and went back up the stairs.

Barry didn't get much sleep that night.

The next morning, Barry woke up and changed into his suit while Hadley did the same. When she met him by the front door, pulling her hair up into a tight ponytail, Barry marveled at the suit. He understood why Cisco was so proud of it. It looked a lot like Iris', but it was perfectly tailored to her-size- and personality-wise.

"Alright, let's do it."

Hadley led him to a dead-end street and stretched her legs. "So, what are we gonna do?"

"Race", Barry replied. Hadley laughed loudly.

"You're just messing with me now", she said.

Barry shook his head. "Nope. Come on, let's go. Ready? Set. GO."

They took off down the street, and, by the time Hadley got to the end-which took less than five seconds, easily-Barry had run around the block twice.

"You...Suck…", Hadley said as she tried to catch her breath.

They did this again and again until Hadley was tying with the original Flash.

"Ha!", she exclaimed. Barry high-fived her and smiled with pride.

"Good job. One more time."

"Don't you think I'm fast enough?", Hadley asked, re-doing her ponytail. "I think we could do it now."

Barry thought about it for a moment. Hadley was doing very well, and she was getting faster-no pun intended-fairly quick. Maybe they could do it. Barry turned to her and was about to say that she might be ready when someone shouted,

"Get out of our neighborhood!"

"Oh, no." Barry heard Hadley whisper. She put her hands up in defense.

"We're about to leave, ma'am. We're so sorry for bothering you. Have a nice day."

Hadley began walking away, and she gestured for Barry to follow her.

"We weren't hurting anyone", Barry complained quietly.

"You never know what people are willing to do", Hadley said, staring straight ahead. "She might've had weapons, she could have hurt us or her neighbors. We can't take chances with those people."

"You could easily-"

"Fighting back is what they want", Hadley stopped and turned to face him. "Imagine if we hurt someone in the process? The little trust that people have in us would be gone. You told me that."

Barry didn't understand why she was getting so defensive, but he let it go. It wasn't worth it.

When they returned to Older-Barry and Iris' house, they saw Wally West standing in the living room, talking to his sister.

"Wally!", Hadley exclaimed, running over to hug him.

"There's my favorite sidekick", Wally laughed. He looked up at Barry and nodded. "You've been training her?"

"Just this morning", Barry replied. "She's good."

"Taught her everything she knows", Wally smiled proudly.

"So, are we gonna do this?", Hadley asked, looking between Wally and Barry.

"In a bit", Older-Barry said, joining them in the living room. He was wearing his Flash suit. "We have something to do first."

"Why are you in your suit?", Hadley asked.

"Meet us downtown", Older-Barry grabbed his wife's arm and ran out of the house, Wally followed. Hadley and Young-Barry exchanged a confused look before following them.

When they arrived downtown, there was a large group of people gathering in front of the stage. Barry smiled as he looked around. It must've been Flash Day. He was surprised that the city was still celebrating it.

"What the heck", Hadley said under her breath. She waved to people as they walked by, yelling her hero name-Impulse, apparently-and cheering for her.

Older-Barry and Wally were onstage. Iris was standing beside the stage taking pictures for, presumably, her blog.

"She's still writing the blog?", Young-Barry asked with a smile.

"Actually, I took it over", Hadley told him. "I don't know what's going on. You should definitely hide, though."

Young-Barry stood next to Iris as Hadley joined Older-Barry and Wally on the stage. Older-Barry stepped up to the microphone.

"Citizens of Central City", he said, his vocal cords vibrating to disguise his voice. "Years ago, I left you all in the capable hands of Kid Flash, who took my place to protect you all. He has done a fine job, but today, he has also decided to step down."

The crowd "aww"ed, a few people booed. Wally nodded, smiling and waving.

"However, we cannot leave you without a hero", Older-Barry continued. "So, I am happy to announce, that this young woman", he pulled Hadley to the front of the stage. Hadley was covering her mouth with her hand. She knew what was about to happen.

"My granddaughter, Impulse, is taking up the role of Flash to protect and serve this city and everyone in it!"

Hadley wiped her eyes as the crowd applauded and cheered-Iris and Young-Barry included. Hadley hugged Older-Barry and Wally tightly, her mouth moving quickly. Thanking them profusely, Young-Barry assumed. He looked over and saw that Iris was crying as well.

When the three speedsters stepped off of the stage, reporters and fans swarmed them for pictures and interviews. Older-Barry was able to fend them off.

Hadley and Iris hugged, both of them still crying.

"Sorry about that", Older-Barry told his younger self. "We've had this planned for months, we didn't want to push it off."

Young-Barry shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'm glad I was able to see this."

Twenty minutes later, the group was standing on a different dead end street, getting ready to get Young-Barry back to his time.

"Thank you all for helping me", he said.

"Of course", Iris said.

"Anytime", Wally assured him.

"Tell everyone I said hi", Older-Barry joked.

Hadley and Young-Barry hugged.

"Congratulations", he told her. "I know the city will be in good hands."

"Thank you", Hadley smiled. "If you ever need any help back in the 2010s, just let me know."

Hadley, Barry, and Wally each took their places on the end of the street, and, on Older-Barry's count, took off running, building up enough speed to begin time traveling.

Barry signaled to the other two speedsters that he was almost there, and together they pushed him through the final stretch.

Barry landed on the floor, on his hands and knees, of S.T.A.R. Labs, his family and friends standing around him.

"Did she make it?", Iris asked as he stood up. Barry ran to her and hugged her.

"Yeah, yeah, she did."

"Are you okay?", Cisco asked.

Barry smiled. "Yeah. I'm great. Glad to be back."

"You weren't gone very long", Wally pointed out.

Barry shrugged, a content smile on his face. He debated whether or not to tell them about Hadley, but he decided that they had all had enough of future relatives for the time being.

 **AN: Thanks for reading! This is definitely not my best fic ever, but it's one of the first (for the Flash) that I've ever been able to finish. Hope you enjoyed!**


End file.
